VA program allows elderly vets in Dallas area to avoid nursing homes

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David Woo/Staff Photographer

Fannie Hall helps John Beaty, 72, with exercise in her home on Wednesday. Instead of spending their final years in a nursing home, wartime veterans are placed in residential homes through the Medical Foster Home Program. "I love it here, and they are so good to me," Beaty says.

With the help of the Dallas VA Medical Center, he’s found it — a neat, single-story red-brick home in Cedar Hill.

That’s where the 88-year-old World War II veteran waits for the inevitable, propped in an overstuffed chair, flanked by an oxygen canister and pictures of smiling grandchildren.

“I like it here; it’s nice,” the former Army private said, his eyes sweeping a bright room with colorful curtains and a flat-screen television on the wall. “We’re like a little family.”

Madison is one of a growing number of elderly veterans who’ve found an alternative to spending their final days in a nursing home: the VA’s Medical Foster Home Program.

It works like this: The VA recruits people who are willing to move elderly veterans into their home. Candidates must be at least 21, live in the residence and be willing to provide round-the-clock care.

The home is inspected to make sure it is safe, clean and has adequate space.

Caregivers do not need an adult foster-care license because only three veterans at a time can live in the home. But they must pass a federal background check and be certified in CPR and first aid.

Round-the-clock care

Veterans pay the caregivers $1,800 to $2,800 a month for room, board and the personal attention. Veterans who served during wartime are eligible for up to $1,703 from the government to defray the expense.

“I know it sounds like a lot of money, but when you do this work 24 hours a day, it comes out to $2 an hour,” said Cathy Cooley, the Dallas VA’s Medical Foster Home coordinator.

The goal, she said, is to offer a home setting where veterans can age and die with dignity. Cyndi Hall opened her home to Madison and two other veterans in 2010.

In the beginning, she said, the program seemed like a good way to supplement her income. But in time, the 35-year-old started thinking of the old men as family members.

She’s especially close to Madison.

“He gets depressed sometimes and starts talking about how ‘I’ve lived my life and I’ve had fun, but it’s time for me to go,’” Hall said.

“That’s when we go back there and sit on his bed and tell him, ‘Hey, you’re a grandpa and a great-grandpa and those kids need you.’”

Cooley said it’s that kind of personal attention that makes the Medical Foster Home Program a good choice for veterans looking to avoid the cost and institutional care of a nursing home.

She said most nursing homes charge about $4,500 a month for room and board.

“We want to give veterans a choice for what’s going to fit them,” she said. “And once they make that choice, we want them to be able to age in place. We don’t want to have to relocate them.”

To qualify for the program, veterans must have served during a time of war, need help with their basic care — like bathing, dressing and grooming — and have difficulty leaving the house.

Once veterans move in, they are visited regularly by a team of doctors, nurses, dietitians, physical therapists and others who provide nearly all their medical care in the home. Every month, Cooley or one of her staff members shows up unannounced.

“One of the main rules of the VA is that they never be left alone, so we want to make sure somebody’s always there,” Cooley said.

“We want to make sure the veterans are doing OK and the caregivers are OK — that they’re not stressed out or burned out, because these guys can give them a hard time.”

Fannie Hall, a 65-year-old home health care nurse, stood at her kitchen counter last week chopping tomatoes for a garden salad. She smiled at the question: “How to keep the peace?”

“Like this,” she said, peeling back the tin foil on a plate of barbecued short ribs. “Good food always seems to put everybody in a good mood.”

Across the room, 72-year-old John Beaty was sitting in a wheelchair, watching television.

“John, do you want a salad tonight?” she asked.

He replied, “No, but I want some of that cornbread.”

The Medical Foster Home Program began in Little Rock, Ark., in 2000 when VA social workers recognized that many veterans would benefit from home-based, full-time care.

Since then, the program has spread to 38 states.

12 homes, 16 veterans

Cooley started the service in North Texas in 2009. There are currently 12 homes and 16 veterans in the program. Fannie Hall was the first caregiver.

“I just love taking care of people,” she said. “You try not to get attached, but you can’t help it. I guess it’s my gift.”

Beaty had a stroke and fell in his Dallas home a few years ago. He lay on the floor three days until a neighbor came to check on him.

“That’s when they started talking to me about this home, but I didn’t really care anything about it,” the former Army private said.

“Going and living in somebody else’s house with people you don’t know, it didn’t sound real good. But it worked out. I love it here.”

Jerry Alders, a 68-year-old former first lieutenant in the Army, seemed similarly pleased with the arrangement as he sat under the carport of Ruth Williams’ home in east Oak Cliff.

“If I have a choice, I’d like to stay right here,” Alders said. “I don’t plan to make a change because I’m very satisfied.”

A few minutes later, inside the snug craftsman-style home, Williams stood, arms crossed in the hallway, and said the program’s not for everyone.

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